The CEO of Sainsbury's, Mike Coupe, has made a statement asking suppliers to “mitigate their own cost pressures” before increasing prices for purchasers, the Retail Gazette reported Thursday.
Adding that many suppliers have far higher profits than Sainsbury's and could better weather current uncertain market conditions, Coupe assured customers that the company was doing its best to ensure that inflated prices are not passed on to the consumer.
Sainsbury's has struggled with the weak pound, posting a 10.1% drop in underlying profits before taxes in its interim report this week. Like-for-like sales were down 2.1%, and its £1.4 billion acquisition of Argos has further weighed down the company.
On Wednesday, company shares had fallen 6.6%, making it the largest diver on the FTSE 100.
Despite recent poor performance, Coupe reiterated that they would achieve full year profits aligned with the market consensus of £572 million, the Gazette reported.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
